Formed in Ontario in 1969, by Geddy Lee, Alex Lifeson, and  John Rutsey, Rush began as a cover outfit, playing material by such bands as Iron Butterfly and Cream.
The first album (RUSH) was released in 1974, and when John Rutsey departed with an illness right after this release, the addition of Neil Peart gave Rush the last thing they needed to become the "Best Power Trio" of ever.
The band began experimenting with more adventurous, often epic-length song structures, and essentially became progressive rockers.
Songs like Anthem, The Fountain of Lamneth, 2112, Xanadu, La Vila Strangiatto, YYZ and many others showed the world how virtuosic musicians they are, and Peart (the main lyricist) also brought with him a flair for intelligent, mythological/fantasy-based lyrics (which in my opinion has reached the top in 1978īs Hemispheres album).

• Geddy is in the Bass Hall of Fame for Guitar Player Magazine

• Has been voted Best Rock Bassist more than 6 times

• Geddy won "best Rock Bass player" in the 1993 "Bass Player" readers' poll.

Geddy Lee was born July 29, 1953. Geddy's real name is Gary Lee Weinrib. He is currently married, has a son name Julian & a daughter Kyla. Tennis and particularly baseball are Geddy's favorite sports. He has even expressed interest in running a minor league baseball team in the past. When the band is not touring, Geddy lives outside of Toronto.

• Voted to Modern Drummer Hall of Fame: 1983

• Best Rock Drummer: 1980,1981,1982,1983,1984,1985

• Best Multi-Percussionist: 1983,1984,1985,1986

• Best Percussion Instrumentalist: 1982

• Most Promising New Drummer: 1980

• Best All Around: 1986

• 1981: Moving Pictures
• 1982: Exit... Stage Left
• 1983: Signals
• 1985: Grace Under Pressure
• 1986: Power Windows
• 1988: Hold Your Fire
• 1989: A Show of Hands
• 1990: Presto
• 1992: Roll The Bones
• 1993: Counterparts

As a member of the Honor Roll in these categories, Neil is no longer eligible for votes in the above categories.

Neil Peart was born September 12, 1952. He took up drumming when he was 13 years old and received professional drum lessons for his birthday. Originally inspired by the aggressive drumming of the late Keith Moon, he is also influenced by the likes of Carl Palmer and Bill Bruford.

Neil grew up near Toronto and played in a series of high school bands before moving to London during the early 70's in order to try and further is musical career. While there he worked as a salesman at a shop called The Great Frog in the tourist district of Carnaby Street. Disillusioned by the British music scene he later returned to Canada where he eventually hooked up with Geddy and Alex. He became a member of Rush in June, 1974.

Neil likes to read and his lyrical influences stem from some of his literary heroes - Ernest Hemmingway, John Steinbeck, F. Scott Fitzgerald, Dos Passos, Barth, Rand, and Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Neil has also written articles and editorials, and in 1994 co-authored a short story "Drumbeats" with Kevin J. Anderson for the horror anthology Shock Rock II.

Recently, his daughter Selena has died in a car accident, and his wife has died from Cancer.

• Alex won Best Rock Talent in 1983 (Guitar for the Practicing Musician)

• Inducted into the Guitar for the Practicing Musician Hall of Fame (May 1991)

Alex Lifeson was born on August 27, 1953, in the mountain fishing port of Fernie, British Columbia. Alex's real name is Alex Zivojinovic. He started playing guitar when he was 12, having previously made an unsuccessful attempt at trying to learn viola. His first six-string was a Kent classical acoustic, which his father bought him as a Christmas present. A year later Alex acquired a $59 Japanese electric model.

His early guitar influences are Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Hendrix, and Jimmy Page. He was basically self-taught as a guitarist. His only formal training was during Rush's early days on the Toronto club circuit.

"A friend I went to school with taught classical guitar," Alex recalls. "He was a very good teacher and I studied with him for about a year and a half. That started around 1971, but then one day he was in a motorcycle accident and had to go to hospital, so the lessons kind of fell off. Also, we'd started to play in clubs a lot more, so I wouldn't really have had the time to keep them up anyway."

Other contemporary guitarists whom Alex admires include Paco De Lucia, Allan Holdsworth, Edward Van Halen, Andy Summers and Rory Gallagher.

He is currently married and has two sons, Justin and Adrian. When not on tour, he also spends time flying, and is in fact, a licensed pilot. He also has a strong reputation in the group as a gourmet cook.

He released a solo album titled "Victor" in January 1996.

I started playing when I was about 11 years old. I begged for a guitar for Christmas, and got an $11 Kent acoustic--it was just terrible, but my parents still have it [laughs]. Then the following Christmas my parents bought me a Cenora, which sort of looked like a Gretch Country Gentleman. Both were inexpensive, poorly Japanese guitars. I borrowed the guy-next-door's Paul amp whenever I could, and taped "Vox" in black tape on the front of it [laughs]. I played for hours and hours and hours.